Portable, wheeled tool carts have been available for some time. Once such prior art tool cart is shown and described by Wise, the inventor herein, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,898 issued Jul. 1, 1997. Additional tool carts have been described in the patent literature. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,941, issued Sep. 11, 1990, to Rousseau, describes a support table for a bench saw. U.S. Pat. No. 4,230,329, issued Oct. 28, 1980 to Johnson, describes a mobile cart. U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,590, issued Nov. 10, 1992, to Otto, describes a miter saw table apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,724; issued Oct. 26, 1993, to Butke, describes an adjustable extension assembly. A brochure showing the Rousseau SS2850 product discloses a mobile miter saw stand.
Nevertheless, a need existed for a mobile saw stand that enabled an end user to transport common electrically powered table saws and the like to the location of the project being undertaken, wherein the mobile saw stand quickly folded out into a fully supporting workbench for actual use of the saw and/or similar equipment. The inventor herein conceived the counterbalanced universal mobile saw stand disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,886,836 issued on May 3, 2005 to address that need, among others. The saw stand disclosed therein is currently manufactured under the brand name Ridgid® and has been commercially successful.
The counterbalanced, universal mobile saw stand disclosed in the '836 patent has a substantially handtruck-shaped main frame having a pair of wheels rotatably attached to the main frame in the vicinity of a foot portion of the main frame. The foot portion extends transversely from one end of the main frame in a fashion similar to a two-wheel hand truck. A second distal end of the main frame adjacent the user's hands has a pair of swing-out legs pivotally connected to the main frame so as to support the main frame in an extended position. A swing-out table is also pivotally attached to the main frame adjacent to the pivotal connection with respect to the swing-out support legs. The table supports a table saw, chop saw, sliding compound miter saw, jig saw, or the like at an elevated working position. The swing-out table is itself supported by a swing-out bed support that has a lower end pivotally connected to the main frame adjacent to the wheels, and an upper end that resides in a pair of tracks on the underside of the table such that, when the mobile saw stand is extended into its upright position, the table is continuously slidably supported by the movable bed support during erection so as to not endanger the user from inadvertent collapse. The saw stand is typically provided with a counterbalanced, telescoping spring to reduce the load on the table and facilitate erection of the table into the extended position.
One possible problem with saw stands of the type disclosed in the '836 patent, and other similar saw stands, is that when used with power tools employing large induction motors, such as used in some table saws, the stand may lurch in reaction to the high instantaneous torque applied by the induction motor. In addition, vibrations from a miter saw, sliding compound saw, or the like may be transmitted to the wheels of the mobile saw stand causing the saw stand to “walk” about slightly on a smooth surface, such as a hardwood floor. While these tendencies may be alleviated by placing blocks under the wheels at an unimproved construction site, such blocking frequently is ineffective on smooth surfaces, such as hardwood or tile floors. One possible solution to this problem is the use of so-called foot operated jacks in which a foot pedal activates a lever arm to lift an associated wheel off the ground. Such mechanisms are commonly found in typewriter tables. However, self-jacking apparatus are generally not well adapted for use with mobile saw stands because of the greater weight of power tools compared to typewriters.
Therefore, a need exists for a mobile saw stand system that prevents movements of the saw stand wheels while a table saw, chop saw, or other power tool is in operation on the saw stand.